Solar power brings opportunity to Pakistani village

A resident sits in a village where they are using electricity with the help of solar power in the Arab Goth in Karachi February 3, 2009.

ARAB GOTH, Pakistan (Reuters) - For years residents of the Pakistani village of Arab Goth didn't have to worry about the all-too-frequent power cuts hitting the nearby city of Karachi. They weren't on the electricity grid.

Karachi is still plagued by frequent power cuts and Arab Goth is still not on the grid but these days villagers have power when the city's 16 million residents don't, thanks to energy from the sun.

With the help of non-governmental organisations, the villagers recently set up 15 solar energy panels that produce about 4 kilowatts of power.

That's enough to light about 65 houses in the village, with at least one bulb each, bringing new opportunities and savings.

Jumaity Mai, a woman in her 40s, weaves wicker baskets which she sells to help support her family. The single light bulb in her small home has made the world of difference.

"I used to make three or four baskets a day. Now, if I work at night, I can make twice as many," said Mai as she sat weaving.

The solar power has also cut the use of fossil fuel.

Arab Dawood, a 65-year-old labourer, has lived all his life in the village and for the first time he is saving money on kerosene he and everyone else has always used in lamps.

"Now we don't have to light lanterns as we did before. Because of these bulbs we can save money," Dawood said.

Dawood said he used to burn a quarter of a litre of kerosene a day to light his house, at a cost of about 15 rupees (20 U.S. cents) a day.

Ejaz Abro is a member of the Indus Earth Trust, an aid group which brought the solar project to Arab Goth with the help of the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund.

He said the pilot project had been a success and the groups hoped to bring solar power to about 1,000 villages by 2011.

Energy deficient Pakistan has huge potential for solar power as well as wind power, especially in coastal areas of the south, though some experts says authorities are loathe to think outside the fossil-fuel box.

The Alternative Energy Development Board's solar energy programme director Imran Ahmed says 3,000 homes have been lit up with solar energy in the rural areas and the government is planning to light another 8,000 in the next two years.

"For the villagers it's not just a bulb. It gives them an opportunity to save money on kerosene and have an extra few hours to work and generate income" Ahmed said.